Dr. Phil in New Orleans

From the Sun Herald:

"Phil McGraw, who brought his "Dr. Phil" show to New Orleans just after Hurricane Katrina, returned this week to tape follow-up episodes that will air in the coming weeks.

Since touring the city by boat in early September, the popular TV psychologist has used his show to focus on New Orleans' recovery efforts and post-Katrina stress and mental health challenges, particularly for first responders."

Haven't they suffered enough? First Katrina, then Rita, now Phil? (sorry I couldn't resist ;) ) I realize he means well and many really like him.

Biloxi residents fear being forgotton

With apologies to Simple Minds "Don't you, forget about us" is the message that Biloxi residents want the nation to hear.

From the Herald.net:

"The biggest fear of many still in Biloxi of being forgotten has some basis....one international tragedy after another took headlines and attention: Iraq, Afghanistan, the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. They echoed the movie "Wag the Dog" in which foreign wars are faked in order to distract Americans from domestic problems.

When wars didn't make headlines, officials have focused on gay marriage, stem cell research and estate taxes.

Meanwhile, families live in cramped FEMA trailers rooted by sewer connections to the front lawns of their gutted middle-class homes. This month, a year after Katrina, they must start paying rent on those trailers as well as their mortgages."

They still need volunteers! Why not take an extra day for Labor day and go down for 4 or 5 days? You will do a world of good!

WLOX Tv news reports from Biloxi

WLOX has some very good reports from Biloxi on the recovery.

For instance the Volunteer BBQ that was held in Hiller Park, the clean-up of the coastal waters, and an update on the repairs of Hope Six houses (yeah the ones we helped demold! :) )

HODR-Indonesia

Scuba posted his 60 day report....short version: Handson Disaster Response is doing a wonderful job (which of course is NO surprise!)

A few look-ins:

"This past month saw a HUGE expansion in the volunteer numbers present in Sawit....This is exciting because it has increased our impact in the community. Where prior it may take up to 4 days to complete the "ruins" removal from the footprint of a house it now takes a single day to clean most areas! The month of August has a steady number of about 15 volunteers with us throughout."

AND

"In an effort to expand the opportunities for our volunteers and allow the children to experience a native English speaker we are now helping at least 2 days per week at the school. The Headmaster of the local primary school has welcomed a number of our volunteers at her school. The students are currently attending classes in an old fashioned military type tent whilst their school is being rebuilt. HODR volunteers have made lesson plans, taught mathematics, English (duh!), and generally assisted wherever they could. Nothing like having eighty 6-9 year olds under one tent being taught by 4 different teachers!! You should try!"

btw Pictures of their work are available on Flickr.

GREAT job people!

Suicide attempt

Want to add another reason why people should continue to volunteer? To be there to talk to the survivors and to help them deal with the stress.

Almost a year later the stress is still there, indeed, in some ways it is worse. Most are trying to deal with it in their own way, but occasionally it just bubbles over. This can happen to anyone. In the following story it happens to a professional photographer for the Times-Picuayune.

He had just found out how much (or better how little) he was being reimbused by his insurance company for his destroyed home. And he broke. The stress had broken down his will to live.

Fortunuately for him his attempt (a so-called "suicide by cop" attempt) failed and he is now on suicide watch. However, what about the thousands of others going through hte same thing?

The story is available in a text format and video from WDSU.

"A New Orleans police officer is recovering and a Times Picayune photographer is in jail.Police said John McCusker rammed an officer between cars during a suicidal standoff.It started when police pulled McCusker over for driving erratically. Investigators said McCusker shouted, "Just shoot me."

Remember this stress of Katrina is still being felt by millions and sometimes it just gets to be too much. You can help. Go volunteer today!

Anniversaries can be stressful and this one is no exception

The August 29th Katrina anniversary has many worried that the date may spur bad memories and other mental stresses.

From WDSU:

" Psychologists are warning about a surge in mental health issues as the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches."

Scientists model stronger storms due to global warming

A more immediate problem than rising tides might be stringer storms, and storm surges:

From Yahoo:

"There's been a lot of talk about the threat to coastal areas of sea level rise, and that is a very, very real issue ... but one that is going to unfold over a period of decades, if not a century," said Bill Chameides, Environmental Defense's chief scientist, in a telephone news conference.

"What we think will actually be a more immediate risk to coastal areas ... is the threat of storm surge, which is actually exacerbated by sea level rise due to these growing-intensity storms," Chameides said.

Using U.S. government data, the scientists created maps showing flood risk areas in Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina, and Miami...."